American Journal of Plant Sciences
Vol.5 No.5(2014), Article ID:43913,12 pages DOI:10.4236/ajps.2014.55086

Depulping of Fruits and Soaking the Seeds Enhances the Seed Germination and Initial Growth Performance of Terminalia belerica Roxb. Seedlings

Md. Aktar Hossain1,2*, Mohammad Salah Uddin2, Wahhida Shumi3,4, Nor Aini Ab Shukor1,5

1Faculty of Forestry, Universiti Putra Malaysia, 43400 UPM, Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia

2Institute of Forestry and Environmental Sciences, Chittagong University, Chittagong-4331, Bangladesh

3Department of Microbiology, Chittagong University, Chittagong-4331, Bangladesh

4Department of Bioprocess Technology, Faculty of Biotechnology and Biomolecular Science, Universiti Putra Malaysia, 43400 UPM, Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia

5Institute of Tropical Forestry and Forest Products, Universiti Putra Malaysia, 43400 UPM, Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia

Email: *aktar_forestry@hotmail.com

Copyright © 2014 by authors and Scientific Research Publishing Inc.

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution International License (CC BY).

http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Received 29 December 2013; revised 18 February 2014; accepted 7 March 2014

ABSTRACT

The study describes the effects of depulping the fruits and soaking the seeds of Terminalia belerica Roxb. on seed germination and seedling growth in nursery condition. Around half of the freshly collected fruits of T. belerica were depulped by rotting the fleshy pulp in water. Depulped seeds or intact fruits were dried in sun following storage in airtight container. Effects pre-sowing treatments were explored by soaking the dry intact fruits or depulped seeds in cold water for 0, 24, 48 and 72 h and sowed in polybags filled with soil mixed with decomposed cow dung. The study revealed that depulping of fruits and soaking the seeds significantly enhanced the seed germination and seedling growth performance in nursery condition. The fastest seed germination was observed in depulped seeds soaked in cold water for 72 h (DT3) and slowest germination was in intact fruits without treatment (IT0). The highest germination percentage (93) was observed in depulped seeds soaked in cold water for 48 h (DT2) followed by 85.6% in depulped seeds soaked in water for 24 h (DT1), which was significantly higher than the other treatments including the control (36.7). Although growth parameters such as shoot length, root length, total height, leaf number, leaf area and collar diameter of the seedlings were maximum in the seedlings developed through DT3, the vigor index was maximum in DT2 and minimum in IT0. Total dry mass per seedling was also maximum in the seedlings developed from the treatment DT3. Considered the imbibition period, germination percentage, growth performance including vigor index and total biomass produced per seedling, depulping the fruits and soaking the dry seeds in cold water for 48 h was recommended for obtaining maximum seed germination and seedling growth performance.

Keywords:Terminalia belerica; Medicinal Plants; Pre-Sowing Treatment; Depulping; Germination Capacity; Growth Performance

1. Introduction

Medicinal plants are playing enormous roles in treating various diseases throughout the world since time immemorial. Plant based drugs are now being increasingly used in traditional medicines because of their efficacy, cheap and lower side effects. World health organization (WHO) has estimated 80% of the total populations in developing countries rely on traditional medicines, mostly plant derived for their primary health care. Rests of the people are also dependent substantially on plant based medicines or on chemicals derived from plants [1] . They utilize these plant resources for their existence by developing their own knowledge passing it from one generation to others. People are reverting back to herbal preparations since the data provided on herbal products, exhibit high level of satisfactions [2] . Medicinal plants are now being used by Unani and Ayurvedic practitioners as well as household remedies by the common people. Plants with medicinal properties are also being used as raw materials for the downstream processing operations in the pharmaceutical industries [3] .

Terminalia belerica (Bohera) is an important medicinal tree species under Combretaceae family used for various purposes in the Indian sub continent. Fruit of the species is one of the three ingredients of “Triphala”, which is a popular Ayurvedic formulation extensively used traditionally to recover from fever, cough, diarrhea, skin diseases, oral thrush [4] [5] , hypertension, to reduce cardiac depression and the risk factors associated with the heart [5] , remove toxins and other undesirable accumulations from the body, improve digestion and assimilation and acts as antioxidant. The fruits of T. belerica contain very high level of total phenolic compounds (TPC) (164.5 mg·g1) [6] including Glucoside (bellericanin) [7] , Gallo-tannic acid, resins, oil [8] , Ellargic acid, gallic acid, lignans 7-hydroxy 3’4’ flavone and anolignan B, tannins, ethyl gallate, phenyllemblin, β-sitosterol, mannitol, glucose, fructose and rhamnose [9] [10] . Off these, Glucoside, Tannins, Gallicacid, Ellagicacid, Ethylgalate, Gallylglucose are mainly believed to be responsible for its wide spectrum therapeutic actions. Therefore, the fruits are being used as an antioxidant, antimicrobial [11] , antidiarrheal, anticancer, antidiabetic, antihypertensive and hepatoprotective agent [12] .

Fruits of T. bellerica are reported to have antibiotic activities against a wide variety of microorganisms and extensively used in Ayurveda (an ancient form of Indian medicine), to treat piles, dropsy, diarrhea, fever, cough, skin diseases and oral thrush [4] [13] . Kernel of fruit is edible but contains narcotic properties. The oil extracted from the seeds is useful as a hair tonic. T. bellerica extract/fractions is suitable for functional food for pharmaceutical purpose can be used against hypertension and other related diseases [5] . Seventy percent extract of T. belerica increased resistance to necrotizing agents, providing a direct protective effect on the gastric mucosa and exhibited antiulcer effect [14] . The aqueous and ethanolic extracts of T. belerica have been reported to possess antidiabetic and antioxidant [15] [16] , anthelmintic [17] , anticancer [18] and antimicrobial [4] [11] activities. T. bellirica can be used for economic upliftment of the local inhabitants as fruits of the tree are sold at high premium in the market for preparing Triphala churan.

However, due to overexploitation (because of its multipurpose uses), tremendous population pressure, rural poverty, absence of appropriate government policy, accelerated growth of synthetic drugs and inappropriate utilization of forest products, these vital plat resources are being declined rapidly. Besides these, natural regeneration through seeds is very poor, uncertain [19] and required long time to germinate which ifluences forest department not including the species in the afforestation and/or reforestation programs. This delay and irregularity in germination of seeds is believed to be due to the hard seed coat and thick fleshy pericarp of the fruits of the species [20] . The pericarp of the fruit contains very high level of phenolic compound [6] which is also reported to inhibit seed germination in many plant species. For examples, Yukiko et al. [21] repoted 60% - 100% inhibition of shirakamba birch, Betula platyphylla Sukatchev var. japonica Hara seed germination in nine phenolic compounds; salicylic acid, p-hydroxybenzaldehyde, p-hydroxybenzoic acid, vanillic acid, p-coumaric acid, 3,4,5-trimethoxybenzoic acid, chlorogenic acid, 3,4-dimethoxybenzoic acid and ferulic acid. Li et al. [22] postulated that phenolic compounds along with ABA had additive inhibitory effects, both on seedling growth and seed germination. Therefore removing the thick pericarp of the fruit having high level of phenolic compounds may be one of the ettective pre-sowing treatment of the species for enhanced germination of seeds.

There are some studies which examined the germination potentials of T. chebula and T. belerica through different pre-sowing treatments like depulping the fruits, shoaking the seeds in hot or cold water for hours, scarifications, H2SO4 treatment etc. For example, Ara et al. [23] and Hossain et al. [24] [25] found a positive correlation between T. chebula and T. belerica seed germination and depulping of dry fruits by knife and soaking the seeds in cold water for various time periods. However, depulping the dry fruits of the species by knife is very difficult and laborious tasks. Depulping of the T. belerica fruits by rotting fleshy pulp in water would be one of the important options for depulping the dry fruits with knife or other mechanical scarifications but the technique and its subsequent effect on seed germination have not been sufficiently investigated. Therefore, the present study has been designed to explore the enhanced seed germination as well as seedling growth performance of T. belerica under different easily applicable pre-sowing treatments avoiding the laborious process of depulping the dry fruits of the species.

2. Materials and Methods

2.1. Study Area

The study was conducted in the nursery of Institute of Forestry and Environmental Sciences, Chittagong University, Bangladesh located at the intersection of the 22˚30'N latitude and 91˚50'E longitude. The area enjoys typically tropical climate, characterized by hot humid summer and cool dry winter [26] . Mean monthly temperature varied between 28.3˚C to 31.9˚C maximum and between 15.2˚C to 25.2˚C minimum. Relative humidity is generally maximum (86%) in July to September and minimum (72%) in February. Mean annual rainfall of the area is about 3000 mm [27] which mostly taken place between June and September. Mean monthly day lengths variation is from 10 h 35 min in December to 13 h 20 min in June.

2.2. Seed Collection and Pre-Sowing Treatments

Ripe fruits of T. belerica were collected in January from the pre-selected plus trees of the Seed Orchard Division of Bangladesh Forest Research Institute (BFRI) situated in Chittagong. Uniform fruits were sorted out and used for the treatments to avoid the non-treatment variations since germination percentage and seedling vigor was reported to be influenced by the seed size [28] -[30] . Half of the freshly collected fruits were placed in water for a week which allowed the fleshy pulp rotting. Seeds were extracted from the rotten pulp, dried in sun and stored in airtight container until treatments were applied. Rest of the fruits were also dried in sun directly without depulping and stored in airtight container (Figure 1).

 

Figure 1. Intact fruits and depulped seeds T. belerica after drying.

The intact fruits or depulped seeds were soaked in cold water for four different periods of time, 0, 24, 48 and 72 h. Therefore the pre-sowing treatments applied to the T. belerica seeds were intact fruits without any presowing treatment considered as control (IT0), intact fruits soaked in cold water for 24 h (IT1), 48 h (IT2), and 72 h (IT3), depulped seeds without any other treatments (DT0), depulped seeds soaked in cold water for 24 h (DT1), 48 h (DT2) and 72 h (DT3).

2.3. Growing Media and Experimental Design

The treated fruits or seeds were sown in the polybags (12.5 cm × 15.25 cm in size) filled with soil forest mixed with decomposed cow-dung at a ratio of 3:1. The soil was moderately coarse to fine textured sandy loams with pH 4.5. Before filling with the prepared soil mixture, few holes were made in the polybag by punching to facilitate aeration and proper drainage. Randomized complete block design was adopted for the study with three replications (50 seeds per replication) for each treatment. Thus each treatment consisted of 150 seeds and a total of 1200 seeds were subjected to 8 different pre-sowing treatments.

2.4. Seed Sowing and Aftercare

Only one seed was sown in each polybag filled with growing media directly. Seeds were dibbed to 0.5 cm beneath the soil surface by pressing them with thumb and covered with thin layer of soil. After sowing the seeds, protective measures were adopted against the hot sun, intensive rains, birds, rodents and pests. Insecticides (BHC) and fungicides (Diathene M-45) were applied in the soil to protect the seeds and young seedlings from ants, termites and fungal attack respectively. Proper care was taken since the sowing of seeds till the harvesting of seedlings for assessment. Watering and weeding were done regularly to obtain maximum growth of seedlings. Loosening of topsoil was also done whenever necessary to prevent the growth of green mold on the soil surface.

2.5. Data Recording and Statistical Analysis

The effects of pre-sowing treatments on germination of seeds and seedling growth were explored periodically through counting germinated seeds and assessing initial growth performance of seedlings. Cumulative germination was recorded in every third day from the day of sowing and continued till ending of the germination (72 days after sowing the seeds). Mean daily germination was determined by dividing the cumulative number of seeds germinated with respective number of days. Germination phase like imbibition period was determined by counting the number of days required for the commencement of germination from the day of sowing and germination period was the number of days required for completion of germination from sowing the seeds.

For assessing the growth performance, all seedlings were measured for total length, number of leaf and collar diameter. Ten seedlings from each replication treatment (30 from each treatment) were randomly uprooted and measured for total length (root length, shoot length), number of leaf, leaf area and collar diameter. The seedlings were then separated into root, shoot and leaf components and dried in electric oven at 70˚C for 48 h. Dry weight of root, shoot and leaves were also recorded to assess the growth performance of the seedlings. Seedling vigor index (VI) was also calculated according to Abdul-Baki and Anderson [31] as the germination percent multiplied by total length of seedling (i.e. sum of shoot and root length).

All of the recorded data related to seed germination and seedling growth performance were analyzed statistically by using computer software IBM SPSS ver.21.0. The analysis of variance (ANOVA) and Duncan’s multiple range test (DMRT) was performed to explore the possible treatment variations.

3. Results and Discussion

3.1. Seed Germination

Germination period: Seeds of T. belerica started to germinate 25 days after sowing and continued up to 72 days. Different pre-sowing treatments significantly (p ≤ 0.05) affected the germination period for the species. The fastest seed germination (least imbibition period; 25 days) was observed in DT3 (depulped seeds, soaked in cold water for 72 h) followed by DT0 and delayed (highest imbibitions period) was observed in IT0 (intact fruits without any treatment) (Table 1). However, the fastest completion of seed germination (54.7 days) was noticed in DT0 followed by DT1 and slowest completion (72 days) was in IT0. The result of the present study was supported by Hossain et al. [24] [25] , who mentioned that the seed germination started 29 and 31 days after sowing the T. chebula and T. belerica seeds respectively when the fruits were depulped and soaked in cold water for 48 h. Conversely, Ara et al. [23] mentioned that the germination of T. belerica seeds was started from 20 - 25 days after sowing and continued up to 55 - 60 days when depulped and soaked in cold water for 48h. In a recent report Hossain et al. [32] mentioned that the T. chebula seeds started to germinate 23 days after sowing and continue until 84 days for completion.

3.2. Seed Germination Pattern

Mean daily germination percent varied in different days in different treatments for T. belerica seeds. Depulping of fruits and soaking of seeds remarkably affected the mean germination among the treatments. The highest mean daily germination percentage was observed at 55 days after sowing in DT2 (1.64) followed by DT1 (1.56) after 51 days, DT0 (1.32) after 58 days, DT3 (1.26) after 58 days. Among the intact fruits, IT3 produced the highest mean daily germination percentage (0.69) after 72 days, followed by IT1 (0.71) after 66 days, IT0 (0.59) after 62 days and IT2 (0.57) after 58 days (Figure 2). Seed germination started 25 days after sowing and continued up to 72 days. After 72 days of sowing no germination was observed (Figure 3). The cumulative germination percent in treatment DT1 and DT2 mounted sharply from 31 days and 34 days after sowing (respectively) to 49 and 58 days after sowing respectively and remained constant till ending the germination test (72 days). In most of the cases, the cumulative germination percentage of depulped seeds was found to move upwarded after starting the germination. However the progress of the cumulative germination in the intact fruit was comparatively slow and gradual. The daily germination percentage and cumulative germination percentage was significantly higher in depulped seeds than that of the intact fruits throughout the treatments (Figure 4).

Table 1. Effect of pre-sowing treatments on germination period of T. belerica seeds in the nursery.

Note: The same letters in each row are not significantly different at p ≤ 0.05, according to Duncan’s Multiple Range Test (DMRT). ± indicates the standard error of mean.

Figure 2. Mean daily germination percentage of T. belerica seeds under various pre-sowing treatments.

Figure 3. Effects of depulping the fruits and soaking the seeds on cumulative germination percentage of T. belerica seeds.        

(a)(b)

Figure 4. Germination pattern of intact fruits (a) and depupled seeds (b) of T. belerica.

3.3. Germination Percentage

Germination percentage varied from 36.7 to 93 in T. belerica seeds among the treatments. The highest germination percentage (93) was obtained from the treatment DT2 followed by DT1 (85.6), which were significantly higher than the other treatments including control (36.7) (Figures 5 and 6). Germination percentage was higher in depulped seeds than the intact fruits in all soaking period (Figure 5). The result of the present study were in the line of the findings of many other authors who mentioned that depulping of fruits and soaking of the seeds in cold water enhanced the seed germination of T. belerica [23] [25] [33] , T. chebula [24] [32] [34] and Grevillea robusta [35] [36] . Germination percentage of the species in the present study was comparatively higher than the findings of other authors. For example, the maximum germination percentage (88.9.) was observed by Hossain et al. [25] in depulped T. belerica fruits soaked in cold water for 48 h. Ara et al. [23] reported 70% - 75% germination in T. belerica seeds after soaking in cold water for 48 h and depulping the fruits thereafter. Rashid et al. [33] reported up to 70% germination from whole fruits of T. chebula treated by soaking in water for 48 h with successive treatment by 10% sulfuric acid for 20 min. Nainar et al. [34] had shown that seed pretreatments including mechanical scarification offered the 60% germination in T. chebula seeds.

Figure 5. Germination percentage of intact fruits and depulped seeds of T. belerica under a range of soaking periods. Means followed by the different letter (s) are significantly different at p ≤ 0.05, according to Duncan’s Multiple Range Test (DMRT). ± indicates the standard error of mean. 

Figure 6. Germination of intact fruits and depulped seeds of T. belerica under different soaking periods.

3.4. Growth Performance

Seedling growth morphology including the length of shoot, root and total length, number of leaf per seedling was significantly (p ≤ 0.05) affected by the pre-sowing treatments of the seeds (Table 2). The utmost shoot length, root length and the total length of the seedling was obtained from DT3 (38.2 cm, 56.9 cm and 95.1 cm respectively) followed by DT2 (34.6 cm, 54.0 cm and 88.6 cm respectively) and DT1 and lowest (21.7 cm, 32.0 cm and 55.4 cm respectively) was in IT0 four months after sowing the seeds in the polybags. The results of the present study were in the line of those reported by Hossain et al. [24] [32] and mentioned that the seedling growth including root, shoot and total length of T. chebula was highly influenced by the pre-sowing treatment specially depulping the fruits and soaking the seeds in water. They observed maximum shoot length of seedlings (38.67 cm) when fruits were depulped and soaked in cold water for 48 h. Since the root length and shoot length of the seedlings in the present study was significantly higher in DT3, total length of the seedlings was also considerably higher in DT3 (95.1 cm) than the other treatments and lowest was in IT0. The average length of T. belerica seedling in the present study was comparatively higher than that of (Table 2 and Figure 7) other researchers.

Average number of leaf of seedlings was also found maximum in the treatment DT3 (21.33 leaves after four months of sowing the seeds) followed by DT2 and lowest (15.8) in IT1 (Table 2). However, Hossain et al. [25] differed in this regard and mentioned that average number of leaf per seedling of T. belerica was not affected

Figure 7. Growth performances of T. belerica seedlings germinated under different seed treatments four months after sowing the seeds.

Table 2. Effect of pre-sowing treatment on shoots length (SL), root length (RL), total length (TL), leaf number (LN), leaf area (LA), collar diameter (CD) and vigor index (VI) of T. belerica seedlings four months after sowing the seeds.

Note: Means followed by the same letter (s) are not significantly different at p ≤ 0.05, according to Duncan’s Multiple Range Test (DMRT). ± indicates the standard error of the mean.

significantly due to the treatment but the leaf number of T. chebula seedlings was considerably higher (53.66) when depulped and soaked in cold water for 48 h [24] . However there was no significant difference in leaf area produced per seedling developed under various treatments (Table 2) although average leaf area of seedlings was found maximum in DT3 (619.9 sq.cm) and lowest in IT2 (312.9 sq.cm). The mean collar diameter of T. belerica seedlings varied from 3.8 to 4.9 among the treatments. Although the collar diameter of seedlings was not found to vary significantly due to different treatments, maximum diameter was recorded in DT3 and minimum in IT0 (Table 2).

Vigor index: The vigor index of the seedlings was dramatically varied from 2029 to 7586 among the pre-sowing treatments. The vigor index for the species was highest (7586) in DT2 (Depulped seeds soaked in cold water for 48 h) and lowest (2029) was in IT0 (Table 2). Hossain et al. [24] [25] also reported similar result for the T. chebula and T. belerica that the highest vigor index (5291) was in depulped seeds treated with cold water for 48 h. Again, in a separate study Hossain et al. [32] reported the maximum vigor index for T. chebula (4105 four months after sowing the seeds) in depulped seeds soaking with water for 48 h.

3.5. Biomass Production

The dry mass of seedlings including the leaf, root, shoot and total dry weight in different treatments was significantly (p ≤ 0.05) influenced by depulping and soaking period. The highest leaf dry weight of T. belerica seedling (3.20 g per seedling) was recorded in DT3 and the lowest (2.16 g) was in IT1 treatment (Table 3). However, the result of the present study differed with those reported by Hossain et al. [25] who mentioned that the leaf dry weight of T. belerica seedlings was not significantly varied due to the treatments but leaf dry mass of T. chebula seedlings was remarkably enhanced by the pre-sowing treatment and found maximum (2.26 g) in depulped fruits soaked in cold water for 48 h. Shoot dry weight of seedlings was also significantly higher in depulped seeds than those from the other treatments. Maximum shoot dry weight (2.91 g) was observed in seedlings developed from treatment DT3 and lowest (0.77 g) in IT0 (Table 3). Similar result was reported by Hossain et al. [24] [25] in case of the shoot dry weight of T. chebula and mentioned that significantly higher shoot dry weight (1.53 g) was observed in depulped fruits soaked in cold water for 48 h. Average root dry weight of T. belerica seedlings ranged from 0.76 g to 1.36 g among the treatments. The highest root dry weight of T. belerica seedlings (1.32 g) was noticed in DT2 treatment, which was remarkably higher than those of other treatments (Table 3). However, Hossain et al. [25] reported no significant effect of pre-sowing treatments on root dry weight of T. belerica seedlings in their study.

Total dry weight per seedlings of T. belerica, was found to vary from 7.43 g to 3.81 g among the treatments. The total dry weight per seedling was significantly enhanced by the depulping the fruits of the species in the present study. The maximum dry matter of the seedling (7.43 g) was recorded from the treatment DT3 followed by DT0 and the minimum was in IT1 (Table 3). However, Hossain et al. [24] [25] mentioned that total bio-mass per seedling of T. belerica was not significantly (p ≤ 0.05) varied due to the pre-sowing treatment but highly influenced the T. chebula seedlings. They recorded maximum dry mass of T. belerica and T. chebula seedling (8.38 g and 4.61 g respectively) in depulped seeds soaked in cold water for 48 h.

Table 3. Leaf dry weight (LDW), shoot dry weight (SDW), root dry weight (RDW) and total dry weight (TDW) of T. belerica seedlings developed under various pre-sowing treatments four months after sowing the seeds.

Note: Means followed by the same letter(s) in each row are not significantly different at p ≤ 0.05, according to Duncan’s Multiple Range Test (DMRT). ± indicates the standard error of mean.

Generally the seeds with hard seed coat or thick pericarp are reported to enhance germination with pre-sowing treatments [20] [24] [25] [37] -[43] . However, untreated seeds germinate slowly and irregularly [44] . As expected the pre-sowing treatment specially depupling the fruits and soaking the seeds significantly enhanced the germination performance of T. belerica in the present study. Depulping the fruits increased the germination speed, germination percentage and seedling growth which were considerably higher than the intact fruits or control treatments. Jackson [44] explained that seed soaking in water for 48 h improved germination capacity of the seeds. Luna [19] reported that fermentation of seed for three weeks by removing fruits’ pulp and placing the seeds in between layers of straw in a tray having perforations at the bottom gives about 60% germination of T. chebula seed. Again, clipping the seeds at its broad end in such a way that the embryo was not damaged, and such seeds were soaked in cold water for about 36 h and sown in nursery beds under shade, provide about 80% germination. The results of the present study were also consistent with the findings of other authors. For instance, Rashid et al. [33] showed that, whole fruits of T. chebula, and T. belerica pre-treated by soaking in water for 48 h with successive treatment by 10% sulfuric acid for 20 min produced up to 70% germination. Shivanna et al. [20] reported 51% - 60% germination of T. belerica seeds when the mesocarp was depleting. A germination success of up to 50% was obtained when clean seeds (removing the dry pulp) were sown at BFRI [23] . The result of the present study was also supported by the findings of Hossain et al. [24] [25] and mentioned that depupled seeds soaked in the cold water for 48 h gave the maximum germination and seedling growth for both the species T. belerica and T. chebula. Usually depulping the fruits allows seed coat for water penetration which makes the seed soft and suitable for germination.

4. Conclusion

Due to the hard seed coat with thick pericarp having high content of phenolic compounds, T. belerica seeds germinate irregularly taking longer time for nursery establishment. Pre-sowing treatments are therefore essential to soften and break down the seed coat and fleshy pericarp for making the conditions for the embryo coming out. In the present study, among the treatments applied for T. belerica, depulped seeds soaking in cold water for 48 h were found more effective in respect to maximum germination. Although, initial growth performance and maximum dry mass was observed in the treatment DT3 due to the faster germination and plants growth (Table 1), the vigor index was found highest in the treatment DT2 which was consistent with the maximum seed germination of the species in the treatment. Therefore, depulping and soaking in cold water for 48 h may be one of the efficient pre-sowing treatments for T. belerica for obtaining maximum seed germination and seedling growth performance in the nursery for large scale plantation programs.

References

  1. Sharma, M. and Govind, P. (2009) Ethnomedicinal Plants for Prevention and Treatment of Tumors. International Journal of Green pharmacy, 3, 2-5. http://dx.doi.org/10.4103/0973-8258.49367
  2. Kaur, S. and Jaggi, R.K. (2010) Antinociceptive Activity of Chronic Administration of Different Extracts of Terminalia belerica Roxb. and Terminalia chebula Retz. Fruits. Indian Journal of Experimental Biology, 48, 925-930.
  3. FAO (1995) Non Wood Forest Products for Rural Income and Sustainable Forestry. Non Wood Forest Products, 7, FAO, Rome.
  4. Elizabeth, K.M. (2005) Antimicrobial Activity of Terminalia bellerica. Indian Journal of Clinical Biochemistry, 20, 150-153. http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/BF02867416
  5. Chaudhary, S.K., Mukherjee, P.K., Nema, N.K., Bhadra, S. and Saha, B.P. (2012) ACE Inhibiton Activity of Standardized Extract and Fractions of Terminalia bellerica. Oriental Pharmaceutical Experimental Medicine, 12, 273-277. http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s13596-012-0076-0
  6. Bajpai, M., Pande, A., Tewari, S.K. and Prakash, D. (2005) Phenolic Contents and Antioxidant Activity of Some Food and Medicinal Plants. International Journal of Food Sciences and Nutrition, 56, 287-291. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/09637480500146606
  7. Singh, A. (2006) Medicinal Plants of the World. Mohan Primlani for Oxford and IBH Co. Pvt, New Delhi, 26 p.
  8. Nadkarni, K.M. (2002) Indian Meteria Medica. Ramdas Bhatkal for Popular Prakashan Pvt. Ltd., Mumbai, Vol. 1, 1202-1205.
  9. Anonymous (2001) The Ayurvedic Pharmacopoeia of India. 1st Edition, The Controller of Publications,Civil Lines, New Delhi, Part-1, 252 p.
  10. Saroya, A.S. (2011) Herbalism Phytochemistry and Ethnopharmacology. Science Publishers, Enfield, New Hampshire, 357-361. http://dx.doi.org/10.1201/b10878-21
  11. Alam, M.B., Zahan, R., Hasan, M., Khan, M.M., Rahman, M.S., Chowdhury, N.S. and Haque, M.E. (2011) Antioxidant, Antimicrobial and Toxicity Studies of the Different Fractions of Fruits of Terminalia belerica Roxb. Global Journal of Pharmacology, 5, 7-17.
  12. Motamarri, N.S., Karthikeyan, M., Kannan, M. and Rajasekar, S. (2012) Terminalia belerica Roxb.—A Phytopharmacological Review. International Journal of Research in Pharmaceutical and Biomedical Sciences, 3, 96-99.
  13. Kumar, B., Divakar, K., Tiwari, P. Salhan, M. and Goli, D. (2010) Evalution of Anti-Diarrhoeal Effect of Aqueous And Ethanolic Extracts of Fruits Pulp of Terminalia belerica in Rats. International Journal of Drug Development and Reasearch, 2, 769-779.
  14. Jawanjal, H., Rajput, MS., Agrawal, P. and Dange, V. (2012) Pharmacological Evaluation of Fruits of Terminalia belerica Roxb. for Antiulcer Activity. Journal of Complementary and Integrative Medicine, 9, 1-12. http://dx.doi.org/10.1515/1553-3840.1556
  15. Latha, P.C.R. and Daisy, P. (2010) Influence of Terminalia belerica Roxb. Fruits Extract on Biochemical Parameters in Streptozotocin Diabetic Rats. International Journal of Pharmacology, 6, 89-96. http://dx.doi.org/10.3923/ijp.2010.89.96
  16. Sabu, M.C. and Kuttan, R. (2009) Antidibetic and Antioxidant Activity of Terminalia belerica Roxb. Indian Journal of Experimental Biology, 47, 270-275.
  17. Kumar, B., Kalyani, D., Hawal, L.M. and Singh, S. (2010) In Vitro Anthelmintic Activity of Ethanolic and Aqueous Fruit Extract of Terminalia belerica. Journal of Pharmacy Research, 3, 1061-1062.
  18. Kumudhavalli, M.V., Mohit, V. and Jayakar, B. (2010) Phytochemical and Pharmacological Evaluation of the Plant Fruit of Terminalia belerica Roxb. International Journal of Pharmacy and Life Sciences, 1, 1-11.
  19. Luna, R.K. (2005) Plantation Trees, International Book Distributors, Dehra Dun, 975 p.
  20. Shivanna, H., Balachandra, H.C. and Suresh, N.L. (2007) Effect of Pre-Sowing Treatment on Germination of Terminalia bellerica (Ber). Karnataka Journal of Agricultural Sciences, 20, 442-443.
  21. Yukiko, I., Yasuo, K. and Minoru, T. (2001) Effects of Phenolic Compounds on Seed Germination of Shirakamba Birch, Betula platyphylla var.japonica. Eurasian Journal of Forestry Research, 2, 17-25.
  22. Li, H.H., Inoue, M., Nishimura, H., Hasegawa, K., Mizutani, J. and Tsuzuki, E. (1993) Interactions of Trans-Cinnamic Acid, Its Related Phenolic Allelochemicals, and Abscisic Acid in Seedling Growth and Seed Germination of Lettuce. Journal of Chemical Ecology, 19, 1775-1787. http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/BF00982307
  23. Ara, R., Merry, S.R. and Siddiqi, N.A. (1997) Cultivation and Uses of Twelve Medicinal Plants of Bangladesh. Minor Forest Products Series, Bangladesh Forest Research Institute, Chittagong, Bulletin No. 7, 727-731.
  24. Hossain, M.A., Arefin, M.K., Khan, B.M. and Rahman, M.A. (2005) Effects of Seed Treatments on Germination and Seedling Growth Attributes of Horitaki (Terminalia chebula Retz.) in the Nursery. Research Journal of Agriculture and Biological Sciences, 1, 135-141.
  25. Hossain, M.A., Arefin, M.K., Khan, B.M. and Rahman, M.A. (2005) Effects of Different Seed Treatments on Germination and Seedling Growth Attributes of a Medicinal Plant Bohera (Terminalia belerica Roxb.) in Nursery. International Journal of Forest Usufruct Management, 6, 28-37.
  26. Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics (BBS) (2010) Statistical Yearbook of Bangladesh. Statistics Division, Ministry of Planning, Government of the People’s Republic of Bangladesh, xxii.
  27. Banglapedia, 2012. http://www.banglapedia.org
  28. Indira, E.P. and Basha, S.C. (1999) Effects of Seeds from Different Sources on Germination and Growth in Teak (Tectona grandis L. f.) in the Nursery. Annals of Forestry, 7, 39-44.
  29. Gunaga, R.P., Hareesh, T.S. and Vasudeva, R. (2007) Effect of Fruit Size on Early Seedling Vigour and Biomass in White Dammer (Vateria indica): A Vulnerable and Economically Important Tree Species of the Western Ghats. Journal of NTFPs, 14, 197-200.
  30. Gunaga R.P., Doddabasava and Vasudeva, R. (2011) Influence of Seed Size on Germination and Seedling Growth in Mammea suriga. Karnataka. Journal of Agricultural Sciences, 24, 415-416.
  31. Abdul-Baki, A. and Anderson, J.D. (1973) Vigor Determination in Soybean Seed by Multiple Criteria. Crop Science, 13, 630-633. http://dx.doi.org/10.2135/cropsci1973.0011183X001300060013x
  32. Hossain, M.A., Uddin, M.S., Rahman, M.M. and Shukor, N.A.A. (2013) Enhancing Seed Germination and Seedling Growth Attributes of a Tropical Medicinal Tree Species Terminalia chebula through Depulping of Fruits and Soaking the Seeds in Water. Journal of Food, Agriculture and Environment, 11, 2573-2578.
  33. Rashid, M.H., Mohiuddin, M., Ara, R. and Alam, M.J. (1990) Medicinal Plant and Its Cultivation. Minor Forest Products Series, Bangladesh Forest Research Institute, Chittagong. Bulletin No. 4, 17 p (in Bengali).
  34. Nainar, P., Sundharaiya, K. and Ponnuswamy, V. (1999) Germination Studies in Kadukkai (Terminalia chebula). South Indian Horticulture, 47, 1-6.
  35. Anonymous (2000) Grevillea robusta Seed. Danida Forest Seed Centre, Leaflet No. 14.
  36. Murugesh, M. (2011) Effect of Seed Pre-Treatment on Germination and Seedling Attributes of Grevillea robusta (Silver oak). My Forester, 47, 53-62.
  37. Alamgir, M. and Hossain, M.K. (2005) Effect of Pre-Sowing Treatments on Albizia procera (Roxb.) Benth Seeds and Initials Development of Seedlings in the Nursery. Journal of Forestry and Environment, 3, 53-60.
  38. Alamgir, M. and Hossain, M.K. (2005) Effect of Pre-Sowing Treatments on Germination and Initials Seedling Development of Albizia saman in the Nursery. Journal of Forestry Research, 16, 200-204. http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/BF02856814
  39. Agboola, D.A., Ebofin, A.O., Aduradola, A.M. and Ajiboye, A.A. (2004) Effect of Presowing Treatments on Seed Germination of Two Savanna Tree Legumes. Journal of Tropical Forestry, 20, 17-24.
  40. Ajiboye, A.A., Atayese, M.O. and Agboola, D.A. (2009) Effect of Presowing Treatments on Seed Germination and Percentage Starch Content Levels in Tamarindus indica, Prosopis africana, Parkia biglobossa and Albizia lebbeck. Applied Sciences Research, 5, 1515-1519.
  41. Azad, M.S., Zedan-al-Musa, M. and Matin, M.A. (2010) Effects of Pre-Sowing Treatments on Seed Germination of Melia azedarach. Journal of Forestry Research, 21, 193-196.
  42. Azad, M.S., Manik, M.R., Hasan, M.S. and Matin, M.A. (2011) Effect of Different Pre-Sowing Treatments on Seed Germination Percentage and Growth Performance of Acacia auriculiformis. Journal of Forestry Research, 22, 183- 188.
  43. Anand, B., Devagiri, G.M., Gurav, M., Vasudev, H.S. and Khaple, A.K. (2012) Effects of Pre-Sowing Seed Treatments on Germination and Seedling Growth Performance of Melia dubia CAV: An Important Multipurpose Tree. International Journal of Life Sciences, 1, 59-63.

NOTES

*Corresponding author.